So, what really happened to the console market in Japan?

[AnthonyW86]

RolStoppable said:

AnthonyW86 said:

Not sure how you got that idea? If you mean when it comes to home consoles Sony with PS4 is the only one that will have decent sales in Japan this generation than obviously yes. But when it comes to handhelds Japan is the only market keeping Sony alive.

 

But what do you expect will happen in Japan in the future then? Do you expect the home console market to shrink even further? And what if you ask yourself the same question for handhelds?

What will happen in Japan will depend on what Nintendo does for both, home consoles and handhelds. Xbox can be written off, Microsoft is not going to bother. Sony will maintain the status quo, even if that means that their home consoles will not sell more than 10m units again. So it's all up to Nintendo. I don't think they are happy with the current status despite a generation where they will sell over 20m handhelds in Japan alone, so they will change what they've been doing. What exactly their next home console and handheld is going to be, that's up in the air, but they aren't going to sit idly by and watch how the market for dedicated gaming hardware shrinks. If Nintendo is able to present a coherent vision, then I expect both segments to grow in the ninth generation.

I agree if there are going to be any surprises they are going to come from Nintendo. I would also like to add that looking at the charts in the OP it wouldn't surprise me if at some point the gaming market simply overheated. Sales might be lower than what we have come to expect from Japan, but they are now much more in line with other country's when we look at population size.